I was quite surprised that Si Jiangchen indulged Chen Jiu so much.
How could a scoundrel who committed all kinds of evils be allowed to do whatever he wanted?
“It's too dark in there. It's not my territory,” Si Jiangchen seemed to know what I was thinking. He leaned close to my ear and whispered, “Letting him stay inside is just to accompany his father.”
A shiver ran down my spine.
Chen Jiu really didn't seem like a human being. He was more like a heartless brute. Even when his own blood - relative was brutally killed by him, he showed no sign of guilt and only had his mind on gold and silver.
Just as Si Jiangchen said, Chen Jiu had been wandering in this underground netherworld all year round. This was his territory. Even though Si Jiangchen and I were immortal, if we were trapped in this pitch - black stone enclosure, it would be extremely difficult for us to leave!
Think about Chen Jiu's father. He was an old man who had been digging tombs underground for many years. Even he couldn't escape when trapped in the tomb by his own son and finally ended up being buried with the ancients.
Just thinking about the two hands with worn - out fingertips on that wax - like corpse and the blood - stained scratches on the wall, I could feel how desperate that poor soul left in the darkness was at the last moment!
I didn't feel sorry for such a person, but I did feel sad for him.
On the way back, it was safe.
All the traps and ambushes had been dismantled by Lu Dayong and his men. Soon we reached the narrow robber's tunnel we had crawled into before.
The white candle that had been placed at the bottom of the tunnel was almost burned out. There was only a little flickering flame on a pool of solidified wax.
“General Si, you go first, and then let Madam follow you,” Lu Dayong knew that Si Jiangchen couldn't trust them, so he proposed voluntarily. “Your troops are outside.”
What he meant was that since there were Si Jiangchen's men outside, there was no need to worry about being trapped inside.
“Du Xinghe, you go first!” Si Jiangchen said as he stuffed the small porcelain bottle containing the self - hanged emperor into my hand. “Wait for me outside.”
Only then did I understand why Si Jiangchen had brought me to such a dangerous place.
I'm afraid he was worried that he couldn't take out the so - called Taishang Resurrection Spell alone, so he brought me along as a double - insurance!
I immediately took the small bottle, stuffed it into my coat pocket, and crawled into the suffocating robber's tunnel without hesitation.
It seemed that the time to get out was much shorter. I had only crawled for a few minutes on hands and knees when I saw the dim light outside.
When I stretched out my hands and was pulled out, the sky was turning gray.
I saw two of Si Jiangchen's adjutants looking at me nervously.
“Your general is behind!” I pointed at the robber's tunnel and was about to tell them not to be afraid when suddenly there was a “puff” sound from the cave, and a thick black smoke billowed out.
Wherever the black smoke passed, the overgrown trees and weeds withered and broke instantly.
“Get out of the way!” I found the black smoke was dangerous and immediately pushed the two adjutants away. But I was tripped by a raised tree root on the ground and fell.
The black smoke was very heavy. It didn't float into the sky much but “gurgled” out of the cave and rolled onto the ground, slowly spreading among the dead leaves and twigs.
There was a disgusting stench in the black smoke. I covered my nose and tried to get up from the ground. When I put my palm on the ground, a bug fell on the back of my hand and never moved again...
My God! This black smoke was so poisonous?
It could wither trees and kill people on contact!
“The black smoke is poisonous. Hurry up and take the men away!” I shouted and waved desperately at the two adjutants.
“Madam!” The adjutant who had been in the orphanage before ran over to help me up. He thought that since I had half of my body in the black smoke and seemed okay.
But as soon as his finger touched the black smoke, the black smoke immediately wrapped around his arm like a living thing. His fingertips turned black and rotted visibly, and a stinky smell came out along with his shrill scream.
“Knife!!” Without hesitation, I grabbed his arm and shouted at his bewildered colleague behind him, “Cut it off!!”
Si Jiangchen's men were all battle - hardened soldiers.
The adjutant immediately drew out the short knife about a foot long from his boot and cut at his comrade's elbow.
“Ah!!” The adjutant whose hand I was holding let out another shrill scream. His hand and a section of his forearm were cut off by the sharp knife.
The severed hand was still in my hand. A section of the sleeve slipped off the severed arm, and the rotting and blackening flesh had already extended beyond the wrist in a short time.
If the other adjutant had hesitated for a moment, his comrade might not have even been able to keep his upper arm!
“Go!! Hurry up and leave this place!” I threw the rotten and withered severed limb on the ground and shouted at the two of them again. I knew that Si Jiangchen had his men ambushed here. If they touched this black smoke, there would surely be a large number of casualties.
“Madam, what about you?” The adjutant was holding the knife in one hand and dragging his comrade who was almost fainting from pain in the other. He looked extremely hesitant. Their order was to protect me. Now I was in the black smoke that could kill people instantly, and Si Jiangchen was still in the stone tomb and hadn't come out.
If they left, how could they explain it to others?
“Go. I'll wait for Si Jiangchen.” I had been in the black smoke for so long. If the black smoke was harmful to me, I'm afraid I would have rotted away like those vines and insects. It seemed that my body was fundamentally different from theirs...
The two adjutants were decisive men. Seeing me like this, they immediately turned around and ran away quickly. Then I heard a series of urgent and shrill whistles, and the rustling sound of tree branches and leaves came from all around.
Fortunately, the black smoke spread very slowly. By the time those sounds disappeared quickly, it hadn't spread beyond the area around the stone wall.
Since it was harmless to me, it should have no killing power to Si Jiangchen either!
I prayed in my heart and shouted into the robber's tunnel from which wisps of black smoke were still flowing, “Si Jiangchen!! Si Jiangchen...”
I didn't know if my voice was too soft to reach inside or if something had gone wrong in there.
I shouted several times but got no response. However, I knew the tunnel was unobstructed; otherwise, the black smoke couldn't have gushed out.
But could I crawl in again?
My heart was like a cat scratching wildly. The worst - case scenario I had predicted had finally happened!
In that tomb chamber, there were Si Jiangchen, Lu Dayong, Chen Jiu... and a helper with a low profile. If the black smoke was caused by them accidentally triggering a trap inside, there might be only Si Jiangchen left alive!